How To Replace Spare Tire In Back 2006 Mustang Trunk?

I have a question to ask, but don't know how to ask it. Let me explain, replacing a spare tire means to get a new one, but what I want to do is put my original spare back inside my trunk, without that middle "L" screw hitting that board/carpet cover and have the screw come through the board and carpet?

It seems like that "L" screw is way too long and lit ifts the board and carpet mat too high.

I did a lot of google-ing before posting this question.

Where and how do you place the jack, is it placed on top of the spare or underneath the spare tire, either way I try, it does not change the length of the "L" screw that holds down the spare tire.

The L-bolt and/or its anchor point may be deformed. If both appear normal, then see if a metal or wood object can be positioned between the L-bolt and its anchor point. If that's not possible, then see if any excess can be cut off the threaded end of the L-bolt(Note: A thread cutting die may be needed to reshape the threads on the end of the L-bolt after it's cut.)

The jack goes under the spare tire on the side of the L-bolt farthest away from the rear of the car.

Okay (Loud Yell %$#&^) I went to the Ford Dealership here in my area and spoke to the parts guy, he said to bring the "L" bolt in and we will match them up with a new one and its only ($4.95) for a new one. So, I brought it in, and it was the exact same size, so I was back to square one.

He then showed me the schematic blown-up diagram view of the entire jack assembly and I noticed there was this little part that appeared to go onto the tip of the "L" bolt. However, when questioning, the parts man, he told me that was the threads that went inside the plastic wing nut. (later on he was proven to be wrong.)

I then went outside and asked the service manager if he knew much about Mustang jack location, and he said he never messed with one.

So I went to the service bay area and spoke with a mechanic, he said he did not know either, so I asked him if I could look in the trunk of the Mustang he was working on. He said sure, we opened it up and sure enough, on top of that "L" bolt, there’s this plastic round cylinder piece, that slips over the end of that "L" bolt, where the carpet/board sit on. I also noticed, on the bottom of that board, there was an impression left underneath that particle board, I am going to guess about 1/4" - 1/2" deep , maybe even an inch and a half in diameter.

So if that plastic piece was not there, it would have also craved a hole in that particle board as well.

So I went back to the parts department - told the parts guy, he looked it up and said, we don't carry the part, its a special order and its $20.00. I was like, $20.00 for a tiny little piece? Yup.

I went to over to Ace Hardware and purchased a large rubber stopper and drilled a a hole in the center of it, about 2/3rds of the way down. The rubber stopper is about 3"s in diameter and solid rubber and 1/1/4 inch deep.

That plastic piece supports that carpet/board from sagging when you place groceries or what not in the trunk. So even if you would have cut the "L" bolt down, eventually the board would sag, if you placed any weight in trunk.

So here's my post, the only one on the net - that covers such an easy ridiculous topic - that I wanted to solve.

I agree the board would sag if a portion of the L-bolt was cut off, but the L-bolt may not gouge a hole through the board because a shorter L-bolt will create less pressure at the contact point of the the board and L-bolt.